Who in your opinion is most responsible for the death of Eva Smith?

After being laid off from Birling and Company, Eva Smith moved

onto Milwards where "she was lucky to get taken on" as this was a

very expensive and fairly exclusive store. Unfortunately Eva had only

been there a few months when "they told her she'd have to go." This

was not because she hadn't been doing her job properly, but

because "a customer complained about her." We then find out, of

course, that this customer was Sheila Birling who had complained

because she had "caught sight of her smiling at the assistant",which

Sheila mistook as an act of impertinence and used her mother's

name to get Eva fired.

Afterwards, we find out that Gerald Croft had not been busy with

work for the six months that he had mysteriously vanished,and he

had been with Eva, who had changed her name to Daisy Renton.

He had met her at the "Palace music hall" and he had gone over after

apparently being given a "cry for help" while she was womanised by

Aldermand Meggarty. Then he allowed her to move into the Morgan

Terrace - a little set of rooms that his friend Charlie Brunswick had

given him the keys to while he was away in Canada.Eventually she

became Gerald's mistress. When Gerald had finished the affair,

Daisy was apparently "very gallant" in the way she took it, so he left

her enough money to get by, and went.

More shockingly, though not really to the audience, we find out that

Mrs Birling had in fact seen Eva Smith only two weeks before her

death, except under the name of Mrs Birling. Obviously someone

with Mrs Birling's level of pride would not have welcomed that kind of

thing too kindly and admits that was "one of the things that prejudiced

me against her case." Mrs Birling then used her influence on the

committee to have the girl's case refused. When the inspector puts it

to her that she had refused the case of a pregnant woman, Mrs

Birling is very quick to naively blame the father of the child.

Then the final case we find out is the bombshell that the father of the

child is Eric, when he enters "looking extremely pale and distressed.

" Eric had also met her in the Palace bar, "and stood her a few

drinks." One thing eventually led to another and they slept together.

Afterwards Eric had been stealing money to give to Eva untill she

discovered it was stolen when she refused to take any more.

It is possible to argue that all these cases in some led to Eva Smith

commiting suicide, but I think the person who is most responsible is

Mrs Birling. Women are usually very emotional while going through

pregnancy, and Mrs Birling had been very rude to this girl and

refused her the help she needed to raise the child. This may have

eventually led to Eva deciding that she didn't want to bring such and

underprivalidged child into the world, and even led to her suicide.